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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sales -39% compared with the previous year's game - UK 2023

diffusionx

Gold Member
I personally think MW3 is best version to play, but it was absolutely overpriced and the lower sales make sense.

There's a bigger issue though. This would be 2 of last 3 iterations coming in soft. I hope this is a lesson for the industry. Focus on your core customers with a fair price = potential for wild success. Remove either core focus or fair price = bad outcomes.
I think it's a really bad sign that 3 out of 3 (imo) turned out to be real hunks of shit. It's like Activision can't operate at this scale anymore. This should have been a gameplay patch and some DLC for MW2 and nobody would have complained that we didn't get that horrid campaign. I absolutely hated MW2 but probably would have given it a shot had that been the case.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
I think it's a really bad sign that 3 out of 3 (imo) turned out to be real hunks of shit. It's like Activision can't operate at this scale anymore. This should have been a gameplay patch and some DLC for MW2 and nobody would have complained that we didn't get that horrid campaign. I absolutely hated MW2 but probably would have given it a shot had that been the case.
Think the solution is mainline game (MW) + big expansion the year after then mainline + expansion the year after. That give the devs almost 4 years for each mainline entry and 2 years for support to fart out some maps and guns.

Plus that give each game time to breathe, BOCW was in a good place then they dropped it for MWII, would have liked another year of support for that game.
 
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Moses85

Member
Angry Tyler James Williams GIF by ABC Network
 

GreatnessRD

Member
Because Sledgehammer games is trash. Also doesn't help that it's been the same game for over a decade. They still gettin' that mobile money, so they don't care. Lmao
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
Think the solution is mainline game (MW) + big expansion the year after then mainline + expansion the year after. That give the devs almost 4 years for each mainline entry and 2 years for support to fart out some maps and guns.

Plus that give each game time to breathe, BOCW was in a good place then they dropped it for MWII, would have like another year of support for that.
that's one way, or they fold the multiplayer suite into Warzone and then just release campaigns every other year or whatever.
 

clarky

Gold Member
But its twice the price of what they could charge for DLC. So did they make more or less by going this route?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
But its twice the price of what they could charge for DLC. So did they make more or less by going this route?

They sold what would have been expansion DLC, with remade maps from older games and Warzone chunks, at full price.

The RoI on this must be insane. And probably gonna encourage more of this in the future, for the worse lol.
 

clarky

Gold Member
They sold what would have been expansion DLC, with remade maps from older games and Warzone chunks, at full price.

The RoI on this must be insane. And probably gonna encourage more of this in the future, for the worse lol.
Oh yeah im not condoning it in any way. it was absolutely DLC at one point. They probably ran the numbers and though this was better for them.

I don't know the exact numbers but i know MWII sold well enough but i know a lot of my group dropped off it pretty quick( or just didn't play as much), same with Warzone 2.0.

Got to factor in your limiting your customers to (still playing) MWII owners unless you do a complete edition for full price anyways.
 
Absolutley cannot agree with the bolded. They nerfed movement into the ground added a ton of visual recoil and muzzle flash. MW2 was a mess hence the reverse course.

Warzone 2.0 played fucking terrible because of the changes they brought in with II. Almost killed the goose.
I have no experience with Warzone so I wouldn't know that. I played the campaign, it was meh, not even close to MW 2019 and then multiplayer in core mode for about a month before I dropped it entirely because I thought it sucked.

Didn't play it for the entire 2 year life cycle of the game until trying it again mid way through Season 6 a couple months ago, which was the last Battle Pass and I only play hardcore now.

When you shoot a firearm, there is, of course, visual recoil so I am all for it. I love how hard hitting and heavy some of the weapons feel.

The way you bob around while walking feels like I have actual feet. Sprinting is slower and especially in Hardcore you must be deliberate or you'll get smoked sprinting around corners instead of properly "pie-ing" the corner like you would with a real firearm.

And of course, you can't slide cancel so if you do want to slide, you better make sure you'll be able to complete the entire slide without getting shot in the process.

It slows everything down. Which is why I like it. MWIII is probably even faster than MW 2019 if I had to guess, which in my opinion sucks.

MW 2019 was a lot of fun, but I love that MWII is even slower.
 

clarky

Gold Member
I have no experience with Warzone so I wouldn't know that. I played the campaign, it was meh, not even close to MW 2019 and then multiplayer in core mode for about a month before I dropped it entirely because I thought it sucked.

Didn't play it for the entire 2 year life cycle of the game until trying it again mid way through Season 6 a couple months ago, which was the last Battle Pass and I only play hardcore now.

When you shoot a firearm, there is, of course, visual recoil so I am all for it. I love how hard hitting and heavy some of the weapons feel.

The way you bob around while walking feels like I have actual feet. Sprinting is slower and especially in Hardcore you must be deliberate or you'll get smoked sprinting around corners instead of properly "pie-ing" the corner like you would with a real firearm.

And of course, you can't slide cancel so if you do want to slide, you better make sure you'll be able to complete the entire slide without getting shot in the process.

It slows everything down. Which is why I like it. MWIII is probably even faster than MW 2019 if I had to guess, which in my opinion sucks.

MW 2019 was a lot of fun, but I love that MWII is even slower.

Thats the thing with COD small changes affect the gameplay massively. if you find the one you like you can stick with it if you dont like the next one. I did the same as you but with BOCW. Not every Editon will please everyone.
 

Puscifer

Member
The campaign sucked, but the rest(MP/Zombies) is actually better that MW2.
Yeah but if they think I'm paying 50 let alone 70 for remastered maps I played over 10 years ago they have another thing coming. I was looking forward to it since I loved MW2 so much and you could carry over progress and items but they can kick rocks now, this is a straight up rip off.
 
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yazenov

Gold Member
MW2 also had an extra month.

Not bad for glorified DLC still, not bad at all.

12 days extra. Nice try.

Given the awful reviews and word of mouth, it will continue to sell less than its predecessor with shorter legs due to the reasons mentioned earlier. Its life-to-date sales will surely pale in parison to WM2.
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
Down even 1% sales freaks out corporate heads.
12 days extra. Nice try.

Given the awful reviews and word of mouth, it will continue to sell less than its predecessor with shorter legs due to the reasons mentioned earlier. Its life-to-date sales will surely pale in parison to WM2.

This was a title made in a very short time, most likely on a much smaller budget and I believe the original plan was for this to be a gap year until Kotick got greedy. Not sure if this outcome would be considered concerning given all these

Real questions will be asked if the 2024 release doesn’t reverse this situation, but for now, this seems wholly expected.
 
> Picked up MW3
> Excited as it's been a minute since I last played
> Get tactical, jump straight into online multi-player
> Immediately killed and tea-bagged by Lilith from the Diablo series... Wtf?
> Immersion broken, quit out of the game, uninstall immediately
> Sad as I realise this franchise is no longer for me
> Place my copy of the game in the trade-in pile
> Now consider the franchise dead and no longer want to talk about it
 
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clarky

Gold Member
> Picked up MW3
> Excited as it's been a minute since I last played
> Get tactical, jump straight into online multi-player
> Immediately killed and tea-bagged by Lilith from the Diablo series... Wtf?
> Immersion broken, quit out of the game, uninstall immediately
> Sad as I realise this franchise is no longer for me
> Place my copy of the game in the trade-in pile
> Now consider the franchise dead and no longer want to talk about it
>Goes online to talk about it.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Not bad for a full priced DLC...
Like i said earlier in the thread, how many people who bought MWII would have bought some dlc? Less than what would buy a standalone "experience" at full price Activision obviously thought. Probably right as well.
 

Godot25

Banned
Given the awful reviews and word of mouth, it will continue to sell less than its predecessor with shorter legs due to the reasons mentioned earlier. Its life-to-date sales will surely pale in parison to WM2.
From what I read on the COD subreddit, sentiment around multiplayer in MW3 is way better then in MW2 and since those changes were also brought into Warzone I can see MP of MW3 having better legs than MW2.

Sledgehammer COD games are always commercially weaker then IW/Treyarch COD games, so 39% dropoff isn't surprising. Vanguard sales were 36% lower in UK than Black Ops Cold War for example. And I have no doubts that Activision knew that sales would be lower. But they probably knew that if they released MW3 as a DLC, sales would be even lower. And since production on that game was only 16 months, budget for game was also way lower then MW2.
 
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I got this for chistmas and honestly the gameplay is solid.

BUT I don't feel this package is worth anywhere near the asking price. Yes it plays good, yes the old maps are a joy.

This is also the nail in the coffin. The maps. Its super lazy programming. The engine is exactly the same as MW2. I would never have bought it, but I'm glad I can enjoy it.

Am I being a hypocrite?
 

clarky

Gold Member
From what I read on the COD subreddit, sentiment around multiplayer in MW3 is way better then in MW2 and since those changes were also brought into Warzone I can see MP of MW3 having better legs than MW2.
This is the general consensus. Unless you don't actually play the game.
 

BigLee74

Gold Member
> Picked up MW3
> Excited as it's been a minute since I last played
> Get tactical, jump straight into online multi-player
> Immediately killed and tea-bagged by Lilith from the Diablo series... Wtf?
> Immersion broken, quit out of the game, uninstall immediately
> Sad as I realise this franchise is no longer for me
> Place my copy of the game in the trade-in pile
> Now consider the franchise dead and no longer want to talk about it
The gimmicky skins are horrific, and definitely detract from the overall experience.

But if this is what pays for the 20+ new maps and extra game modes they release over the year, then I can live with it.

There was nothing worse than the quarterly COD DLC of yesteryear, 4 new maps for 12 quid with the added bonus of the dwindling player pool and increased matchmaking time as a result. I’m glad those days are gone!
 

clarky

Gold Member
The gimmicky skins are horrific, and definitely detract from the overall experience.

But if this is what pays for the 20+ new maps and extra game modes they release over the year, then I can live with it.

There was nothing worse than the quarterly COD DLC of yesteryear, 4 new maps for 12 quid with the added bonus of the dwindling player pool and increased matchmaking time as a result. I’m glad those days are gone!
Be nice if you could toggle non military skins on or off tbh, although im not sure how that would affect sales.

With you on the rest of it .
 

Yoda

Member
That they own one of the best selling videogames on the planet? Wish I had that problem lol.
CoD was probably the 2nd largest influence of the price of the Activision Blizzard deal (behind King). Having cooling sales right after the acquisition is green-lite is another annoyance for MS in a year they can't seem to catch a break.
 

Godot25

Banned
CoD was probably the 2nd largest influence of the price of the Activision Blizzard deal (behind King). Having cooling sales right after the acquisition is green-lite is another annoyance for MS in a year they can't seem to catch a break.
???

As I previously said, Sledghammer COD games were always sold worse than Treyarch/IW games. This YoY drop is nothing unexpected.
Now, if Black Ops Gulf War will have similar results, then we can open this conversation. But I highly doubt that because COD community have a memory of gold fish and when they will see Frank Wood in Gulf War setting, they will cream their pants again...
 

LordNerevar76

Neo Member
The campaign sucked, but the rest(MP/Zombies) is actually better that MW2.
Sorry, I personally thought the MP was a big dropoff from MW2. The faster movement and issues with the maps (despite being a nostalgia junky for mw2 '09) exacerbate the horrible matchmaking issues and existing low TTK, and end up just making the game so twitchy and unbalanced that I actively hated it. And I genuinely enjoyed MW2.
 

clarky

Gold Member
CoD was probably the 2nd largest influence of the price of the Activision Blizzard deal (behind King). Having cooling sales right after the acquisition is green-lite is another annoyance for MS in a year they can't seem to catch a break.
Nothing abnormal for the franchise. Like someone else said look at Treyarch's last effort, Vanguard, that told a similar story.

If the next Black op's drops off more then they have issues.
 

clarky

Gold Member
Sorry, I personally thought the MP was a big dropoff from MW2. The faster movement and issues with the maps (despite being a nostalgia junky for mw2 '09) exacerbate the horrible matchmaking issues and existing low TTK, and end up just making the game so twitchy and unbalanced that I actively hated it. And I genuinely enjoyed MW2.
But the TTK is longer and less twitchy?
 

MikeM

Gold Member
I haven’t played it in over a month. Sad considering I played all the others so much. I really can’t stand all these skins- looks like a clown show and doesn’t feel like COD anymore.
 

phant0m

Member
I haven’t played it in over a month. Sad considering I played all the others so much. I really can’t stand all these skins- looks like a clown show and doesn’t feel like COD anymore.
despite playing a ton of MW 2018, MW2, and even enjoying Vanguard I'm still happy with my decision to skip this dumpster fire.

I'll come back when they lose the wannabe Fortnite gimmicks.
 

twilo99

Gold Member
The best COD in quite some time. Didn't play the campaign but rarely do.

It is indeed very good. Now that I learned the maps I’m really enjoying the fast pace and movement overall. 2019 felt better as far as shooting the guns, but the gun fights are still very good..

This DLC scam has sold quite well at full price, the worst valued COD in history.

The main part of the game, multiplayer, is top tier entertainment..
 
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